Sweet Refuge

By Rae Owens

Sometimes heroes wear aprons. Sometimes damsels curse like truckers. Caroline didn't want to be the damsel; she just wanted to go home after a long day at her crappy job. Zack never considered himself a hero, but his feet had other ideas as they carried him towards the little firecracker of a girl and her assailant. From the moment she falls into his arms, he knows he's going to keep her forever, which he fully intends to do as soon as he figures out how to convince her that he's truly one of the good guys.

Bad boys definitely have their place, but not in this story. " Sweet Refuge" is a short, sweet but steamy romance about one of the "good guys", a sweet lovable fella who just wants to make the world a better place by making everyone pancakes. Read your billionaire playboy novels, and when you need a slight change of pace, try out a nice guy for a little while.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rae Owens
• Release date: Apr 19, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370390274

Rae Owens

Like all good tales of iniquity, this one began in a run-down trailer park in rural Alabama in 1979. An only child, too poor for the diversions of luckier tykes, and jacked up on too much sugar, I resorted to using my imagination as my primary source of entertainment. Monsters didn't just hide in my closet; it was a portal for all kinds of creatures, both humanoid and not, and not all of them were bad. Tiny, mischievous people hid in my Hee-Haw overalls and stole my mother's jewelry when she wasn't looking, and convinced me to do things like eat an entire can of chocolate frosting and then try to steal my neighbor-down-the-street's pony. And then, cable happened, and late nights were spent sneaking into the living room to watch soft core porn and horror movies. However, I can only lay partial blame for the warped adult I've become on Cinemax. No seat belts, lead-based paint, half-drunk parents who chain smoked Marlboro reds next to gaudy ashtrays filled with crushed butts-there are a thousand tiny things that led me down the path of a middle-aged woman who alternately writes smut and horror, depending on the day and how much coffee I've had. Quite simply, I write the books I want to read, and hope that a few others will too. Enjoy!

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This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

Sweet Refuge

Smashwords Edition

April 16, 2018

Copyright © 2018 Rae Owens

Written by Rae Owens

Cover Design by Ray-El Designs

All Rights Reserved

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Chapter One: Caroline

Caroline didn't actively try to be a negative person, but two years into her full-time gig as a Himmel's Supermarket cashier had really driven home the realization that a lot of people just basically sucked. She looked on as the old woman standing across the register filled out her check nonchalantly, humming a little tune while feigning oblivion to the glaring silence of those waiting impatiently behind her. After watching this same routine repeated dozens of times by dozens of little old ladies, methodically scribbling in their shaky cursive scrawl, Caroline had become convinced that it was some sort of passive aggression on the part of the elderly in protest of a world full of impatient youth. She might've even respected the tiny, useless act of rebellion if it hadn't been for the fact that at least one of the irate people behind the old woman would very likely take their annoyance out on Caroline, as if she had any control over the situation whatsoever.

The lady handed her the check, not even the slightest hint of mischief in her eyes, which Caroline accepted with silence and a raised brow, neither of them speaking as she completed the transaction until she handed the old woman her receipt with an automatic thanks, come again in a tone that no one would mistake for sincere. They were required to be friendly to all the customers, no matter how annoying, but at the end of a double shift to cover for a no-show, Caroline was done with the pretense, and could only hope to go through the motions effectively enough to get through the last hour. Luckily, none of the people that had been forced to wait behind the woman for ten minutes were in the mood for idle banter, and Caroline was able to get them on their way with quiet efficiency. Just as she began to think the last part of her shift might not go so badly, one of her usual scumbags came through her check-out line.

Good, kind, decent men almost never hit on cashiers. They might smile a little wider at a pretty girl or flirt in a harmless way that could easily be mistaken for casual friendliness, but they almost never came right out with a direct pick-up line, because good, kind, decent men seemed to innately understand the imbalance of power that came with hitting on a girl who could easily be fired simply for saying no to the wrong person. Nice guys might leave with a lingering stare and a backwards glance, but they almost never crossed that invisible line, whereas the assholes would not only cross it, but bulldozed straight through it without a second thought. The assholes of the world took every opportunity they could, and a vulnerable girl who valued her shitty job too much to fight back was their brand of sweet, juicy fruit, ripe for the picking.

How you doin' tonight, darlin'? Older, married guys were the absolute worst, and this one, with his standard issue dad gear of a peach colored polo covering his paunch of a belly that hung over pleated khakis, was the most relentless of her weekly entourage of incorrigible perverts. Caroline didn't respond, ringing up his magazine and breath mints as quickly as possible. She'd tried everything to get rid of this guy, from polite dismissal to a direct fuck off, but nothing fazed him, and week after week, he came through her line, hitting on her with a flagrant disregard for the gold band that gleamed on his left hand.

When you gonna stop being so stuck up and let me take you somewhere nice? Even as pretty as you are, I doubt you get any better offers, workin' in a place like this. Caroline could only scoff inwardly, wondering how a guy with more hair in his ears than on his head could have so much confidence, but he seemed certain that he could wear her down with the repeated promise of a fancy dinner and a night of what could only be mediocre sex at best, at the closest motel. She took an automatic step back as he leaned in to whisper, Most people in my position wouldn't look twice at some minimum wage flunky, but I'd pay good money to get a good, long look at those perky little titties that you hide behind that ugly uniform.

She'd complained to her managers about the stuff he'd said to her in the past, but they simply didn't care enough to get involved if a paying customer was only saying words, and not causing a disruption. Even the female managers turned a blind eye, not wanting to rock the proverbial boat for a nobody like her. Just ignore it; it's just something you learn to deal with was the only advice they could give. After all, it was such a common occurrence, they'd have to ban a dirty old man a day for every female on their staff, and those dirty old men were nothing if not consistently faithful customers.

So, Caroline did the only thing she could, she took the words of her cowardly bosses to heart by ignoring his remark and replied, $6.34, please. The guy smirked, but slid his card, staring at her tits the whole time it processed. When it went through and the receipt printed, he started to say something, but then stopped when a woman and her two kids rolled in behind him. The worst thing about guys like him was that they were too smart to get caught, and as long as it was her word against his, she'd never have a leg to stand on. Her only real hope was that he'd eventually fixate on some other unfortunate girl and forget about her.

She'd nearly put him out of her mind completely by the time she'd counted down her till and clocked out. As always, she shopped for a few things after work, buying whatever remotely edible food there was in the clearance section to stretch out her barely above minimum wage paycheck. Luckily, she wasn't picky or adamantly opposed to eating out of date ramen, lentils, and dented canned goods. This night had offered a rare bounty of leftover Christmas chocolates and movie-themed canned spaghetti that was about to be discontinued, and so her arms were laden with bags as she made the long jaunt to the edge of the vast, dark shopping center parking lot to her crappy old Honda.

Caroline couldn't do much about the fact that she was required to park at the very edge of the parking lot, even on nights she got off late, because the store was very strict about leaving the closer spaces available to customers. If she was lucky, she could catch a few others getting off at the same time so that they could walk out as a group, but tonight wasn't one of those nights. Tonight, the parking lot was all but abandoned and like a wolf who could sense the weakest prey, her sleazy admirer came up to her out of the shadows just as she'd almost reached her car.

Needs some help with those bags, darlin'? The overly friendly voice sent chills up her spine, and she turned quickly with her back to her car to find him closing in with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. How 'bout I help you load those bags and then we head back to your place?, he continued casually, as if he'd never made an inappropriate advance toward her, and they were just old friends embarking on a romantic interlude.

I don't think my boyfriend would be too happy about that, Caroline lied, trying to sound as casual as possible while internally freaking the hell out. He was annoying, sure, but she hadn't really expected him to go full-on Ted Bundy. Caroline edged towards her